"And yet, to claim any less would see me hung in Val Royeaux, what we present is not always what we choose. It is how we survive. I could undo it all, death does not frighten me, but if I claim other truths does that change who I am on the inside? That I am more than all of the identities I carry on my back, or that I am neither--Orlesian, human, elven, Shem, êtes mélange, enfant naturelle, half-breed, Chevalier, noble? It is a crossfire between the camps, isn't it...why should any specific identity matter over the others or color what's inside of me or what you really see? Unless there is tunnel vision for nothing else, then what more can I do?" He could not make Zevran un-see the noble, human, Orlesian, Chevalier, male parts about him, he'd only hoped that the assassin was able to look at him beyond that. It really did not matter, what others saw, or what they choose to see, when they look at him, only what Zevran saw.

In the same vein, while he did not dismiss Zevran's identities, he embraced them and saw more, and some things just mattered more than others.

"That I might be used, blackmailed, manipulated, or toyed with...all considerations that I had to take into mind when forming bonds with anyone who wasn't Cheritenne. It meant loving very few people, but it has also given me a heightened sense of what love is," as opposed to infatuation which meant one night stands and never sharing anything about himself with anyone. All of his secrets buried and Zevran had not revealed a single one that he was aware of.